Yotsuya Kaidan-- Oiwa
by CBJPP
Summary: Story about Yotsuya Kaidan- Oiwa, read only okay with a lot of death.
1. Story

\- A samurai has fallen out of people to serve and sold umbrellas for a living

– Wife was beutiful. But after giving birth to the first child, became sick

— Wives name was Oiwa

— Didnt care about how poor her family was, as long as she was with the person she loved

– However the samurai didnt like the situation and started hating her for being content with the 'miserable life'

\- A daughter of a wealthy doctor fell in love the samurai

– The father said that the samurai should work for them in exchange of making her his wife

– Both the samurai and doctor planned to get rid of Oiwa

-They gace her a medicine to cure all her illnesses

– The medicine turned out to be poison, which gradually disfigured her face

– Her eyes started to fall down

\- One day while she was brushing her hair, some locks fell off, leaving a trace of blood on her face

– She didn't have a mirror to look at herself but knew something was wrong with her face

\- As her beauty started distorting, the Samurai started insulting and looking down on her

– The poison not have worked, the samurai sent a servant to seduce her

\- When the servant went to seduce her, he felt bad for her, he told her about her husband's plans and gave her a mirror

– When she saw herself she went mad and started struggling with, cohaine(?), cutting her throat with his katana

– While bleeding to death she used her last breath to curse the samurai, IEMON(iemon)

\- When Iemon got home, he discovered his wives body, but no trace of his servant

– Knowing the servant had compromised him, he sent people to find and kill him

– He got rid of the bodies by nailing them to a board and sending them down a river

‐ He was free to marry the lady, and had a beautiful wedding

– Thar night when they were alone he took the veil off his wife

– But instead of his innocent wife smiling back at him, the disfigured and bloody face of Oiwa stared back at him, wanting revenge

– He took his sword and cut the face of his dead wife, who cried and screamed when it touched her face

– But when her body hit the floor he saw that he had actually killed his new wife, and ran away terrified

\- While running the servants gloomy face appeared

– He took his sword and cut his neck

– But after cutting the throat, he realized it was the body of his father-in-law

\- Controlled by panic he ran away and searched for refuge at the mountains

\- He never got to rest after that

– Everywhere he looked he saw Oiwa

— Reflection in the water, night lights, her disfigured face always accompanied him, and he even started hearing his voice

\- He went fishing and found the putrified bodies nailed to the boards of Oiwa and the servant

– the samurai went crazy

\- one day, Oiwas brother heard about his crimes and found his hiding spot

– The samurai had cornered the brother, but right when he was about land the final blow, Oiwas face appeared

– He was petrified and the brother took the advantage to kill him

\- The last thing he saw before he died was Oiwas face smiling. Happy for getting revenge


	2. Wikipedia's Story

Yotsuya Kaidan(四谷怪談), the story of Oiwa and Tamiya Iemon[a]is a tale of betrayal, murder, andghostly revenge. Arguably the most famousJapanese ghost storyof all time, it has been adapted for film over 30 times, and continues to be an influence onJapanese horrortoday.

Written in 1825 byTsuruya Nanboku IVas akabukiplay, the original title wasTōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidan(東海道四谷怪談; translation:Ghost Story of Yotsuya in Tokaido).[1]It is now generally shortened, and loosely translates asGhost Story of Yotsuya.[b]

HistoryEdit

First staged in July 1825,Yotsuya Kaidanappeared at the Nakamuraza Theater in Edo (the former name of present-day Tokyo) as adouble-featurewith the immensely popularKanadehon Chushingura.Normally, with a Kabuki double-feature, the first play is staged in its entirety, followed by the second play. However, in the case ofYotsuya Kaidanit was decided to interweave the two dramas, with a full staging on two days: the first day started withKanadehon Chushingurafrom Act I to Act VI, followed byTōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidanfrom Act I to Act III. The following day started with the Onbo canal scene, followed byKanadehon Chushingurafrom Act VII to Act XI, then came Act IV and Act V ofTōkaidō Yotsuya Kaidanto conclude the program.[2]

The play was incredibly successful, and forced the producers to schedule extra out-of-season performances to meet demand. The story tapped into people's fears by bringing the ghosts of Japan out of the temples and aristocrats' mansions and into the home of common people, the exact type of people who were the audience of his theater.

StoryEdit

As the most-adapted Japanese ghost story, the details ofYotsuya Kaidanhave been altered over time, often bearing little resemblance to the original kabuki play, and sometimes removing the ghostly element altogether. However, the base story usually remains the same and recognizable.

(Note: the following summary is of the original 1825 Nakamuraza production. As such, it does not detail the numerous subplots and characters added to the story over the intervening years.)

Act 1Edit

Tamiya Iemon, arōnin, is having a heated exchange with his father-in-law, Yotsuya Samon, concerning Samon's daughter Oiwa. After it is suggested by Samon that Iemon and his daughter should separate, the ronin becomes enraged and murders Samon. The next scene focuses on the character Naosuke who is sexually obsessed with Oiwa's sister, the prostitute Osode, despite her being already married to another man, Satô Yomoshichi. As this scene begins, Naosuke is at the local brothel making romantic advances toward Osode when Yomoshichi and the brothel's owner, Takuetsu, enter. Unable to pay a fee demanded by Takuetsu, he is mocked by both Yomoshichi and Osode and forcibly removed. Shortly thereafter an intoxicated Naosuke murders Okuda Shôzaburô, his former master, whom he mistakes for Yomoshichi. This is implied to occur at the precise time of the slaying of Samon. It is at this point that Iemon and Naosuke unite and conspire to mislead Oiwa and Osode into believing that they will exact revenge on the people responsible for their father's death. In return Osode agrees to marry Naosuke.

Act 2Edit

Oume, the granddaughter of Itô Kihei, has fallen in love with Iemon. However, believing herself to be less attractive than Oiwa, she doesn't think Iemon will ever want to become her husband. Sympathizing with Oume's plight, the Itôs scheme to have Oiwa disfigured by sending her a topical poison disguised as a facial cream. Oiwa, unbeknownst to her at the time, is instantly scarred by the cream when she applies it. Upon seeing his wife's ghastly new countenance, Iemon decides he can no longer remain with her. He asks Takuetsu to rape Oiwa so that he will have an honorable basis for divorce. Takuetsu cannot bring himself to do this so, instead, he simply shows Oiwa her reflection in a mirror. Realizing that she has been deceived, Oiwa becomes hysterical and, picking up a sword, runs towards the door. Takuetsu moves to grab her but Oiwa, attempting to evade him, accidentally punctures her own throat with the sword's tip. As she lies bleeding to death before a stunned Takuetsu, she curses Iemon's name. Not long after, Iemon becomes engaged to Oume. Act 2 closes with Iemon being tricked by Oiwa's ghost into slaying both Oume and her grandfather on the night of the wedding.

Act 3Edit

The remaining members of the Itô household are annihilated. Iemon kicks Oyumi, the mother of Oume, into the Onbô Canal and Omaki, the servant of Oyumi, drowns by accident. Naosuke arrives in disguise as Gonbei, an eel vendor, and blackmails Iemon into handing over a valuable document. Iemon contemplates his prospects while fishing at the Onbô canal. On the embankment above the canal Iemon, Yomoshichi and Naosuke appear to fumble as they struggle for possession of a note which passes from hand to hand in the darkness.

Act 4Edit

At the opening Naosuke is pressuring Osode to consummate their marriage, to which she seems oddly averse. Yomoshichi appears and accuses Osode of adultery. Osode resigns herself to death in atonement and convinces Naosuke and Yomoshichi that they should kill her. She leaves a farewell note from which Naosuke learns that Osode was his younger sister. For the shame of this, as well as for the killing of his former master, he commits suicide.

Act 5Edit

Iemon, still haunted by the ghost of Oiwa, flees to an isolated mountain retreat. There he rapidly descends into madness as his dreams and reality begin to merge and Oiwa's haunting intensifies. The act closes with Yomoshichi slaying Iemon out of both vengeance and compassion.

Historical basisEdit

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Nanboku incorporated two sensational and real-life murders intoYotsuya Kaidan, combining fact and fiction in a manner that resonated with audiences. The first involved two servants who had murdered their respective masters. They were caught and executed on the same day. The second murder was from asamuraiwho discovered hisconcubinewas having an affair with a servant. The samurai had the faithless concubine and servant nailed to a wooden board and thrown into theKanda River.

Ghost of Oiwa

Hokusai's image of Oiwa emerging from the Lantern.

Oiwa is anonryō, a ghost who seeks vengeance. Her strong passion for revenge allows her to bridge the gap back to Earth. She shares most of the common traits of this style of Japanese ghost, including the white dress representing the burial kimono she would have worn, the long, ragged hair and white/indigo face that marks a ghost in kabuki theater.

There are specific traits to Oiwa that set her apart physically from other onryo. Most famous is her left eye, which droops down her face due to poison given her by Iemon. This feature is exaggerated in kabuki performances to give Oiwa a distinct appearance. She is often shown as partially bald, another effect of the poison. In a spectacular scene in the kabuki play, the living Oiwa sits before a mirror and combs her hair, which comes falling out due to the poison. This scene is a subversion of erotically-charged hair combing scenes in kabuki love plays.[3]The hair piles up to tremendous heights, achieved by a stage hand who sits under the stage and pushes more and more hair up through the floor while Oiwa is combing.

Oiwa is supposedly buried at a temple, Myogyo-ji, inSugamo, a neighborhood ofTokyo. The date of her death is listed as February 22, 1636.[4]Several productions ofYotsuya Kaidan,including television and movie adaptations, have reported mysterious accidents, injuries and even deaths.[citation needed]Prior to staging an adaptation of Yotsuya Kaidan it is now a tradition for the principal actors and the director to make a pilgrimage to Oiwa's grave and ask her permission and blessing for their production.[5]This is considered especially important of the actor assuming the role of Oiwa.

Sadako Yamamurafrom the filmRingis a clearhomageto Oiwa. Her final appearance is a direct adaptation of Oiwa, including the cascading hair and drooping, malformed eye.[6]Also inJu-onwhen Hitomi is watching the television, the television presenter is morphed into a woman with one small eye and one large eye- possibly a reference to Oiwa.


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